Harry Styles And Niall Horan Make Fake Twitter Accounts To See What Directioners Actually Think Of Them

The One Direction boys are like the patron saints of Twitter. We already knew that they stalk girls’ Twitter accounts to see if they’re girlfriend material, because true love can only be expressed in 140 characters or less. But it turns out that the boys also rely on the social network for gauging their fanbase—and they do it undercover!

Break out the trenchcoats and sunglasses/big nose disguises, because we’ve just discovered that Harry Styles and Niall Horan make fake Twitter accounts in order to spy on talk to their fans. According to the Daily Star (via Sugarscape), the lads’ fame has made it too difficult for them to interact with fans in any other way. Obviously they’re not going to delete their existing accounts, but if they want honest answers about their music and shows, they’ve gotta pretend to be fellow Directioners.

“Harry and Niall like to get personal with the fans, but it’s hard to talk one-on-one with them without being cyber-mobbed,” an insider said. “So in the last few months they’ve started using pseudonyms to befriend their fans on Twitter. They have no idea the strangers they’re talking to are actually their idols.” Lest you think you can put your Veronica Mars sleuthing skills to use and hunt down the boys’ aliases, they change them every few weeks to keep the Directioners off their trail.

When I first started reading this article, I envisioned Harry and Niall as some sort of criminal masterminds. Of course, now I imagine their Twitter shenanigans look something like this:

But the source says that they get legit intel! “They find out what fans enjoy most at the gigs and which songs they like and don’t like. It’s also a good place to hear what the latest rumours are. They say it helps them kill time as well when they’re waiting in hotels and airports around the world. Harry does it the most. He loves finding out what the fans really think.”

Ironically, it also probably gets them nearly as many female admirers as when they’re themselves. Imagine being a 1D fan — I’m gonna take a stab in the dark and guess that the fanbase is mostly ladies? — and running into a guy who loves the band as much as you do! Or at least, who respects your fangirl tendencies.

We’re gonna have our eyes peeled and our fingers ready to try and catch the boys on Twitter. Two can play that game.